Week 6 Rankings (2013) – Top 40 Running Backs

by Ray Kuhn

This week we are back to just two teams on byes, Atlanta and Miami, and thankfully the injuries are at a minimum. Of course there are some health concerns, and David Wilson scheduled to play on Thursday doesn’t help, but fantasy owners should not be too negatively impacted by injuries this week. However, there is still the greater issue of running backs underperforming their draft status that must be dealt with. Once again, questions are abounding, so let’s get right into the rankings.

1. Adrian Peterson – Minnesota Vikings – at Carolina

2. Jamaal Charles -Kansas City Chiefs – vs. Oakland

3. Matt Forte -Chicago Bears – vs. New York Giants

4. Arian Foster – Houston Texans – vs. St. Louis

5. Ray Rice – Baltimore Ravens – vs. Green Bay

6. DeMarco Murray – Dallas Cowboys – vs. Washington

7. Marshawn Lynch -Seattle Seahawks – vs. Tennessee

8. LeSean McCoy – Philadelphia Eagles – at Tampa Bay

9. Alfred Morris – Washington Redskins – at Dallas

10. Doug Martin – Tampa Bay Buccaneers – vs. Philadelphia

11. Reggie Bush – Detroit Lions – at Cleveland

12. Knowshon Moreno – Denver Broncos – vs. Jacksonville

13. Trent Richardson – Indianapolis Colts – at San Diego

14. CJ Spiller – Buffalo Bills – vs. Cincinnati

15. D’Angelo Williams – Carolina Panthers – at Arizona

16. Frank Gore – San Francisco 49ers – vs. Houston

17. Darren Sproles – New Orleans Saints – at New England

18. Chris Johnson – Tennessee Titans – at Seattle

19. Le’Veon Bell – Pittsburgh Steelers – at New York Jets

20. Pierre Thomas – New Orleans Saints – at New England

21. Danny Woodhead – San Diego Chargers – vs. Indianapolis

22. Giovani Bernard – Cincinnati Bengals – at Buffalo

23. Eddie Lacy – Green Bay Packers – at Baltimore

24. Rashad Jennings – Oakland Raiders – at Kansas City

25. Zac Stacy – St. Louis Rams – at Houston

26. David Wilson – New York Giants – at Chicago

27. Maurice Jones-Drew – Jacksonville Jaguars – at Denver

28. Willis McGahee – Cleveland Browns – vs. Detroit

29. Andre Ellington – Arizona Cardinals – at San Francisco

30. Stevan Ridley – New England Patriots – vs. New Orleans

31. Ryan Matthews – San Diego Chargers – vs. Indianapolis

32. Joique Bell – Detroit Lions – at Cleveland

33. Fred Jackson – Buffalo Bills – vs. Cincinnati

34. Bilal Powell – New York Jets – vs. Pittsburgh

35. Brandon Jacobs – New York Giants – at Chicago

36. LeGarrette Blount – New England Patriots – vs. New Orleans

37. Donald Brown – Indianapolis Colts – at San Diego

38. BenJarvus Green-Ellis – Cincinnati Bengals – at Buffalo

39. Bernard Pierce – Baltimore Ravens – vs. Green Bay

40. Montee Ball – Denver Broncos – vs. Jacksonville

Thoughts:

Before he got hurt, David Wilson might have been on his way to making up for his early season struggles. Granted we are setting the bar low here though, as Wilson had only managed 16 yards on six carries before leaving with a neck injury, but he did find the end zone. As of Monday, Wilson said he was still experiencing some tingling in the neck and he did not practice, leading to the Giants to re-sign Da’Rel Scott on Monday. The Giants have a quick turnaround playing on Thursday, so I would certainly have an alternative to Wilson lined up.

It took four weeks for Darryl Richardson to lose his starting job, but it happened this week. Zac Stacy got the start last week, and he did not disappoint carrying the ball 14 times for 78 yards. Rams’ coach Jeff Fisher has already named Stacy the starter for this week and he also alluded to wanting Stacy to have gotten even more carries. The rookie averaged 5.6 yards a carry and showed explosiveness previously unseen from the Rams backfield.

Doug Martin has been a disappointment this season, along with the entire Buccaneers offense. Perhaps with the bye week they can get their act together. Mike Glennon now has had an extra week to get comfortable with the offense, and hopefully that will benefit Martin as well. The problem, though, is that Martin is only averaging 3.4 yards per carry and had just one touchdown all season. That should not preclude you from starting your first round pick this week for better or worse.

Stevan Ridley is another running back having a disappointing season. This week Ridley missed the game due to a thigh/knee injury, but he should be back as the injury doesn’t appear to be major. Replacing Ridley was a dual effort between LeGarrette Blount and Branden Bolden. Blount had some success carrying the ball 12 times for 51 yards, although he did lose a fumble. Bolden’s 40 snaps were 18 more than Blount’s, but only touched the ball 11 times for a total of 64 yards. This is a situation to potentially stay away from, but you have to think that if Ridley plays he will lead the Patriots in touches.

It may be time to make sure Andre Ellington is owned in all leagues. This week Ellington and Rashad Mendenhall each played 30 snaps, but Ellington was the more dominating player. I would expect Ellington’s playing time to at least stay at this level, if not increase going forward. The rookie carried the ball seven times for 52 yards while catching another four passes for 31 yards. His backfield mate had ten more carries, but he also gained nine less yards. Ellington is the running back to own here.

I’m not sure Willis McGahee’s performance should earn him more than a FLEX role, but he did carry the ball 26 times. With Brian Hoyer now out for the season, Cleveland’s offense might regress somewhat and McGahee did only average 2.6 yards per carry against Buffalo. His value was saved by the fact that he scored a touchdown, but I’m not sure you can count on that each week.

The Lions offense certainly missed Calvin Johnson. Detroit had trouble moving the ball all afternoon against the Packers. After a hot start to the season, Reggie Bush rushed 13 times and was only able to gain 44 yards while catching four passes for another 25 yards. I would not let that sour you on Bush who so far this season is returning first round value.

48 comments

I’m going to get my FLEX question in here early so I can make some decisions:

Danny Woodhead
Bilal Powell
Justin Blackmon
Steve Smith
Marlon Brown

I’m leaning Blackmon since the Jags will have to throw early and often. The NYJ committee is back. Indy isn’t exactly an easy matchup for Woodhead. And I’m just having trouble trusting getting any kind of decent numbers out of Smith.

Corey – It’s tough, but like you said I don’t trust the RB too much. I do like Smith this week, but Blackmon should be in a good situation as well. I think both are usable and go with your gut, so Blackmon is the guy.

James A – It all depends on the return, but I wouldn’t be against dealing him.

Thank god I got alshon Jeffery off waivers last week, it will kinda help fill the void from julios injury….scooped blackmon up in two other leagues last week also, went 8-0 in my leagues, even with Hoyer starting in 2. Awesome and lucky too I guess

just traded Jason witten and Zac Stacy to get Leveon Bell and Denarius moore. Had julius thomas so im solid on TE and didnt mind trading him. What do you think? Also, should i start spiller or leveon bell?

I’m in a full point PPR league. My starters are solid but I have to decide on Pierre Thomas or Coby Fleener for my flex. I know that Pats aren’t as good against the run w/out Wilfotk and Kelly, but Chargers D sucks and Fleener’s success seems bound by projected matchups. Help!

I see the rankings but wanna ask. I’m leaning leave on bell over Alfred Morris. Despite the tough matchup it’s a PPR league and bell has more upside in that aspect. Also factoring in Morris’s ribs and Helus increased role. What r your thoughts

I guess I don’t see Morris as a top 10 and must play either. Like I stated rib injuries can be finicky, helu’s increased role, PPR and Dallas could potentially go up big and negate a running game. Seems like leveon bell could equal or better his production

All fair points, but Bell has an extremely tough matchup himself against the Jets. Plus Morris has been practicing in full this week, so while the injury is slightly concerning its not something that would stop me